It was obvious that the cut was not that deep, but the way he studied it with his eyes narrowed into skeptical slits made it seem at though I had been bitten by a toxic snake. I remembered the evanescence of his smile when he saw me returning from a night out with a blood-stained sleeve. I had noticed a definite panic lurking beneath his seemingly calm disposition as he dressed my wounds.
I realized he was half-kneeling on the floor before the settee and frowned. The somewhat cryptic manner of limping he had adopted lately only served to draw my attention to the pain my friend was struggling with all the more.
"You shouldn't be kneeling, you are going to hurt yourself more."
Perhaps it was the addition of the word 'more' that made his hazel colored eyes flick upwards to send me a questioning look. His face was flickering with the dancing light from the fireplace as I was momentarily lost in his silent gaze. I felt poorly for worrying him this evening, but now I only sought to rectify it.
He flinched as I helped him up and into his char before getting a blanket. He surprised me with a mischievous grin followed by a warning: "I'm liable to start getting jealous if you keep leaving me behind."